What Do the iPhone and Working with an Agency Have in Common?

I'm not a gadget head. I'm not a first adopter. I've never been a Mac Whacko. But now that's all changed, thanks to the iPhone. Especially thanks to the latest OS update.

I won't bore you with a laundry list of what makes the iPhone so addictive. What I think is interesting is this: When it comes to the creative marketing process, the iPhone provides the perfect analogy. Why? Because it's one part rigidity and one part flexibility. One part highbrow, one part lowbrow. One part singular expertise, one part massive collaboration.

The industrial design and user interface represent the first word in each of those pairings. Apple played the role of the exclusive artist and said, basically, screw convention, screw the way things have been done before, screw the entire concept of "buttons." And it created a design and user interface so human-friendly and appealing to the eye, that the mere sight of a Blackberry looks downright troglodytic.

The most recent decision to take a page from Facebook and let people create their own applications ("apps" in common parlance) for the new OS represents the second set of words. Apple controlled what it wanted to control, then it opened the floodgates to outside creativity within its constraints. The result: I've downloaded half a dozen "apps" for my iPhone, including the best device for locating movies and showtimes ever devised (Box Office).

(I've also downloaded two ridiculous apps just for fun: iBeer turns the phone in to a glass of beer where the liquid moves when you tilt the phone. And PhoneSaber turns the phone into a Star Wars light saber that makes sound effects according to the way you move the phone. Don't worry, total cost for both was only $2.99, and I consider it tax deductible.)

There is now a mad dash to create iPhone apps. And that's a good thing. Because it only strengthens the brand by keeping the public intimately engaged. People are using an Apple product to express themselves, which for me is the holy grail of branding.

When you're working with a creative agency, you should expect both sides of this proverbial coin. For any given project to succeed, you need one part "we're the experts, this is what you should do" and one part "you're the client, you know your business, we can be flexible." Too much of either one seldom works.

P.S. Just downloaded the app that turns your phone into bubble wrap that you can pop. Yippee!

What Do Franchise Relations and the Cookie Monster Have in Common?

I've long despised the proliferation of "nerbs" (verbs used as nouns, such as the act of "sunsetting a product line"), but I heard a doozy in a recent client meeting that I think I can get behind.

This is a client with an extensive national franchise network. Last year, they tried a marketing campaign that seemed pretty simple for store owners to understand. Yet, in the end, execution was lacking (didn't they realize that the window clings had to go in a certain order for the design to make sense?). My contact said plainly, "This year, we need to Sesame Street it even more."

Now that's a nerb I can embrace. The truth is, it's not even an insult. I've touted my own version of Sesame Streeting, called "Good Grips Marketing." I remember reading that Good Grips kitchen products, which were intended for arthritic seniors, quickly caught on with the younger set. Why? Because there was something so simple about them, as if they looked at you and said, "Grab me here, and I won't let go." Next, I noticed how car dashboards were getting simplified. No more galaxies of buttons with no clear way of connecting the dots. Suddenly, everything was minimal and big. (It's a feature of my Honda Accord that I still appreciate.)

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: If you want someone to do something, make it easy. If you want them to understand something, make it fun. Is this a product of a twee culture that refuses to evolve from childhood? Well, maybe. But I think it's more a reflection of our ridiculously chaotic lives, and the fact that we'll throw our loyalties behind anyone who makes the extra effort to keep things simple.